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instant.
" Dear Sir,
CtrffiiUjoltr
" Philadelphia, June 20th, 1798."
"I have the pleasure to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 12th
" The impressions which the reading of the dispatches from our Envoys have
made on your mind, are such as every man must feel who is alive to the honour and
interests of this Country ;
the only apology which I can form for the feeble display
of spirit, which appears in their note to the minister of foreign relations, arises from
the c d situation into which they were thrown. Without knowing the real temper
of this Country, Marshall and Pinckney were connected with a New-Englander who
was supposed to represent the feelings and wishes of the New-England States : to
disagree with such a man, placed in so important a situation, and representing at best
a divided people, appeared like rushing on destruction : if by such a step they shou'd
lose the confidence of the Northern States, the Country must have been lost. From
this consideration only can I account for their subscribing to expressions which must
have put their pride and sentiments on the rack :
the
thing certainly admits of pallia-
tion, but after all I can hardly excuse these Gentlemen, as highly as I respect them,
for the manner in which they consented to discuss the question of a Loan. But the
business has gone past, and the mission is at an end, and we may rejoice that it has
terminated so well. Marshall is here, and a description of what he and Pinckney
have suffered. . . ."° is sufficient to render even their faults virtues.
" Your sentiments respecting the want of decision and spirit in this government
correspond with my own :
ourselves, we shou'd sink never to rise again.
if Heaven did not take better care of us than we take of
" The history of the world, in every page, demonstrates that no nation ever
gained anything by forbearance or timidity—a bold, decided and manly administra-
tion allways has and allways will be crowned with success; even war itself, which the
feeble-minded so greatly dread, can only be avoided by boldness ; indecision and
pusillanimity only invite aggression, and the neck that submits will allways decorate
the gibbet. These truths have been exemplified in the progress of our disputes with
France. Mr. Marshall now declares, what a great many preached two years ago,
that, if this government had acted with spirit and decision one year ago, there wou'd
have been no difficulty in bringing the late negotiation to a fortunate issue. But
what cou'd be expected for a people who were kneeling at the footstool of French
"' The imputations cast upon Gerry, in connection with this celebrated mission, have been fully set
aside by a plain statement of facts, with documentary proofs, in the Life of Elbridge Gerry. ... By
James T. Austin. Boston, 1829, ii. 190-295.
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